The Home Straight

Everything has suddenly started to grow and it seems that we bought the mower just in time. The whole environment around the farmhouse seems to have changed in seven days. The early blossom is giving way to crisp, bright green leaves. The white flowers of cow parsley fill the spinny and we see the odd sprinkling of yellow oil seed rape, that has blown in. There are fields locally of this strong yellow flower, it seems so bright after the dullness of the winter stage. The views from the farmhouse are changing and the house in the distance is disappearing behind the oak trees, their crowns filling out for the summer. This new scene feels warm and comforting.

In the house its been "get plastered week" well so to speak! The plasterer has been re-plastering and repairing all the walls and ceilings as a result of the sandblasting and rewiring. Some of the window alcoves have been repointed and with new plaster too, they look really smart. The back of the fire place that was sandblasted to get rid of all the tar has been repointed. The plaster and cement had no time to dry before I was in there snapping away with the camera and recording the progress. There has been a lot of work in the stairwell, as the evidence of the old staircase is obliterated from the walls, this is such a skilled job. We have been really pleased with the new plaster on the bolly, the wall had to be skimmed to conceal where the door to the laundry had once been, and now....it never existed.

The sinks, baths and toilets are going in along with taps, showers and screens as the "salle de bains" begin to take shape. Lauzerte bathroom will be the last to be completed as we wait for the tiles to arrive. The bath sits proudly at the top of the drive, opened today for accurate measurement, it will be moved as soon as the tiles are down. All the taps and shower paraphernalia are going into this bathroom today so it wont be too long before its ready.

I think we are on the home straight now with the building renovation, things are coming together. A couple more weeks and the builders will be gone.

The bath for Lauzerte bathroom. The edge is straight, it's the protector that's slipped.